WebTV/MSNTV Virus Dials 911

Semji Rkim writes: "Though not the first virus to direct modems at 911, ABC News is reporting a bug in WebTV (Now branded as MSNTV) units which causes the infected unit to hang-up and dial 911. The virus spreads via email and Microsoft officials are looking into how it is able to replicate and also control the modem. Affected users are advised to delete the email and call Microsoft at 1-800-469-3288."

Comments

sometimes 911 a toll call even when not a prank

[johnpaul191]

i know in some of the suburbs around here (Philadelphia area) they will charge you a "911 usage fee" even if it is valid. 2 friends of mine were playing video games late one night and the guy who's house it was started to have a seizure (they were about 16 then). the guy's parent just sorta freaked and didn't know what to do. the other guy called 911 and the sick kid ended up in the hospital for a few days. about a month later the family got a "911 usage fee" charge and it was something like $250. that's totally insane to me. i know here in Philadelphia you are told to call 911 for almost everything, and they route and log the calls in one system. if it's something like a car breakin then they forward it to the local department. Philadelphia pondered the 922 or whatever system for more casual calls (like a stolen car stereo discovered in the morning), but scrapped it and put all the money into enlarging the 911 system and training the operators to route the calls instead of the upset callers knowing which was the right number for which situation. it kind of makes sense to just have one huge routing system than a few independent groups of dispachers.
anyway, i hope these people get this fixed soon. i would think webTV users are not the most computer literate and things like this just make them hate "those damn machines". besides costing them money, a lot of 911 systems are stretched as is and something like this can really screw them up.

Re:This is serious

[sean23007]

What about 411? Last time I checked, they were the same number of digits. 411: 1+1+1=3. 911: 1+1+1=3. Okay, another quick doublecheck proves it, 911 and 411 have the same number of digits.